When Kenya hosted the third annual United Nations Environmental Assembly last week, the theme of the meeting; ‘Towards a pollution free planet’ epitomised our social, economic and development goals and aspirations as a country.
Challenges in waste management are prevalent not just in Kenya but globally. Although mitigation efforts have been put in place in other countries, the problem is exacerbated in developing countries due to high population growth and the attendant rapid and sometimes unplanned urbanisation.
There are many reasons but the main ones are infrastructural inadequacies — a failure of existing infrastructure to cater to growing populations and changing consumption trends or habits.
Increasing economic activities, dynamic technologies and a rising middle class have led to increased consumption and rising amounts of urban waste.
Urban centres and cities bear the largest share of the burden in waste management issues the world over, as can be witnessed in Nairobi. Landfills of waste are found along roads or outside people’s homes and businesses, including in the city’s central business district.
Additionally, the major urbansprawl across the country has compounded the problem of waste management. This challenge has not only had a negative impact on the environment but has equally affected the health and wellbeing of citizens.
The challenge in waste management ranges from recycling, generation of waste, separation, behaviour change, collection, transport, treatment, reuse and disposal.
It’s a problem that must involve all stakeholders at diverse levels; from households, traders, manufacturers, private sector companies and governments. Every individual has a role to play.
Who takes responsibility for our waste management is the big question.
For a long time, the sole responsibility for waste management had been relegated to the national and county governments. However, increased populations and increased demands for government services has stretched thin their capacity to deliver sustainable impact in this regard.
In the past, a few private companies and corporates have, annually, organised various clean-ups as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility. Some form of organised waste management by recycling companies does exists especially for solid waste like plastics, paper and glass, but the effort is patchy, unco-ordinated and occurs in a legal and legislative vacuum.
However, as this issue persists and becomes more complex, stakeholders are realising the urgent need to collaborate.
One such partnership is the formation of the PET taskforce, which is a partnership between the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Nema and industry - Under the Umbrella of Kenya Association of Manufacturers.
The goal of this partnership is to address the challenge of the PET plastic bottles waste disposal by developing a take-back scheme that looks at managing the waste through recycling while providing sustainable jobs.
The take-back scheme is based on an end-to-end model involving all stakeholders on the entire value chain that is factory-customer-private collector-to recycling of these materials. These kinds of models have been found to be the most effective.
The initiators are working on the basic principles of the model which are in the process of being rolled out. The success of this model is critical to demonstrating that industry-led initiatives can provide solutions to intractable problems for which an easy government solution is not available, and will provide a template for other waste management initiatives across the country.
Kenya is a trailblazer in a lot of spheres in Africa, to address our environmental concerns, various stakeholders will be required to play different roles. The biggest challenge will be influencing the disposal habits of citizens, an area I believe that strong partnerships at all levels can play a big role.
We can forge partnerships that will steer us in coming up with sustainable waste disposal mechanisms for Kenya.
Phyllis Wakiaga, CEO, Kenya Association of Manufacturers.
PAYE Tax Calculator
Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
